Universities across Bangladesh have begun investigating hundreds of teachers accused of involvement in alleged “anti-state secret activities,” triggering concerns over due process, political bias and academic freedom as questions emerge over who compiled the lists and on what evidence.
The controversy stems from media reports alleging that 404 teachers at 22 universities were involved in covert activities aimed at facilitating former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s return and reactivating the Awami League.
Dhaka University has formed a three-member committee to investigate the allegations, with 58 teachers already identified against a reported 92 named in connection with the university.
Similar committees have been formed at Jagannath University, Islamic University, Chittagong University and other institutions.
The process, however, has itself come under scrutiny.
University sources claim many of the accused at Dhaka University have links to the Awami League-backed Blue Panel, while critics allege names were submitted by individuals associated with rival political groups and that personal grievances may have influenced the lists.
The allegations remain unproven, and the Dhaka University committee has said no conclusions will be drawn without verification.
Questions over evidence
A Dhaka University notification said the committee, headed by Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education) Prof Dr Abdus Salam, would examine information concerning the teachers, determine appropriate action and make recommendations.
Any additional names that emerge will also be investigated.
The committee has already met and discussed its work plan.
Salam said the available files would be placed before the committee at its next meeting.
Asked whether those identified were associated with the Blue Panel, he said he would not comment before the committee examined the information.
Questions have nevertheless arisen over the political composition of the committees themselves.
University sources said Salam is a joint convener of the BNP-backed White Panel and that the other two members of the Dhaka University committee are also associated with White Panel politics.
Similar concerns have surfaced elsewhere.
The four-member committee investigating allegations against 68 Jagannath University teachers is composed of academics and an official reportedly associated with the pro-BNP University Teachers Association of Bangladesh.
At Islamic University, a five-member committee has been established to investigate allegations against 44 teachers, while Chittagong University has formed a three-member fact-finding committee.
‘Atmosphere of fear’
University Teachers Network representative and Dhaka University Development Studies Professor Kazi Maruful Islam questioned the legal and evidentiary basis for identifying teachers before the allegations had been established.
He said: “It is necessary to investigate under what law, on what basis and who identified the 58 teachers. There is nothing wrong with playing politics in universities. Dhaka University teachers and students have the right to freely express their opinions and politics.”
He also questioned how “anti-state secret activities” had been defined and who made that determination, warning that the process could create “a kind of atmosphere of fear” on campus.
Jagannath University Professor Dr Md Shawkat Jahangir also criticised the handling of the allegations.
He said: “A matter has been spread in the media without verifying what anti-state discussion was made on Telegram.”
He argued that a fact-finding exercise should have preceded a formal investigation.
He said: “It would have been more respectable if the university administration had formed a fact-finding committee instead of an investigation committee. It is not right to accuse anyone before verifying whether a crime has been committed or not.”
The expanding probes now leave universities confronting two separate questions: whether teachers were actually engaged in unlawful covert political activities, and whether institutions can investigate such serious allegations without allowing partisan university politics to determine who is accused, or who sits in judgment.